It all began in a living room, with a bounty of salty snack foods, and eight Chicago actresses, trading salty stories. The combination of high spirits, female camaraderie and theatrical daring led to a lot of soul baring. But if there was a level of "too much information," no one cringed and ran from the room. Instead we brought out our notebooks, knowing that the juiciest stuff had to be committed to paper ... and then to the stage.

The result of that evening was the show I'm Sweating Under My Breasts. Debuting at the Annoyance Theatre in 1993, I'm Sweating... officially launched us as a collective of writer-performers and was so enthusiastically received that it ran for eight months. When a reviewer finally attended a performance late in the run he dubbed us "one of the small gems in Chicago entertainment circles."

Over the next few years as we developed a series of monologue shows in
our own unique style, our burgeoning fan base followed us from dank
basement venues to art galleries, and eventually to the gorgeous stage
of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. For thirteen years,
our loyal devotees have kept coming back, bringing friends and parents
(and these days their teenagers!) to see our signature shows like The
MotherLode, Sweat Dreams, and Cirque du Sweat, as well as our other
hits.

At home in Chicago, and on tour in San Francisco and New York, our work
has garnered coast-to-coast critical acclaim. Some of our favorite
stories from a decade of performance can be heard on our spoken word
CD, Sweat Girls: Almost Live!

To speak with honesty, authenticity and humor about the human
condition, as we've experienced it  that's our collective
Sweat Girls goal. While our work is autobiographical and rooted in the
monologue form, we stretch solo performance beyond its traditional
structure by collaborating with other artists  filmmakers, musicians,
choreographers, and visual artists  in order to give our audiences a
multitude of ways to connect with each story. Whatever form each Sweat
Girl production takes, we try never to lose what's essential to our
style  what Chicago's New City called our "emotional power, heartfelt
comedy and strong bonding with the audience."